Lithograph-drying system



Nov. 24, 1925'. 1,562,716

J. A.. NY

LITHOGRAPH DRYING SYSTEM Filed Jam 20, 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet TQ 7, mi lWITNESS INI/ENTOR MQW@ Nov 24, 19Z5 J. A. NY

LITHOGRAPH DRYING SYSTEM 2 Sheets-$heet 2 INVENTOR Jyesfy.

BY MiG/.dw

Filed Jan. 20. 1922 WN WN RN WITNESS ATTORNEYS Patented Nev. se, 1925.

entre sr'rss PATENT orifice.

JULES A. NY, OF SAN FRANCISCO', CALFORNIA, ASSGNOR OF TXVO-TH1RDS TO"tillll'llH ERM GAN COMPANY, GF SAN FRANCSC, CALFQRNIA, A CGPARTNERSHPCON- SSTING OF STEM.

MAK Si. BRANDENSTEN, MANFRED BRASTEN, AND EDWARD 'BRAN- Applicationfiled January i120, 19942.

To UH ymio/21. it rm//i/ concern.:

lie it known tl ify l, J'ULns A. NY, a citi- Zen oli the United States,and a resident ot the city and county ot San Francisco and State otCalifornia, have invented a nenY and useitul Lithogrepli-Drying System,et which the following is a specitication.

This invention relates to apparatus Ator printing or lithographing andcontinuously drying sheets et material and particularly relates to acombined apparatus Y)for system including a printing or lithographingniachine and a drying or baking oven the latter designed to .receive thesheets or pieces ot material as they are printed and issued trom theprinting or lithographing machine.

,in the art ot lithographing or printing (sz-specially sheets et tin orother metallic bodies the sheets nre continimusly :ted into a printingor lithtjigraphing machine and issued tliere'irona onto a relatedconveyor or apron troni which they are removed into an adjacent bakingor drying apparatus through which the she-ts are continuously advancedfor a predetermined length ot' time and subjected to a suitable degreeoit temperature to facilitate the drying oit the material on the platesor sheets. As at present practiced there is no co-ordinate relationbetween the printing machine and the drying apliaratus and it necessarytor an attendant to stand at the machine to control. the discharge otthe sheets or plates into the drying apparatus to prevent them frombecoming overlapped or injured as they are moved to a ifouievm' ordrying rnc-.lr movable through the drying apparatus.

't is ther-etere one or" the. objects et the present .invention toprovide an organi/led system including a lithographing or printingmachine tor treating metallic sheets or other plates to produce thereonthe desired surface matter as 'for jiiufttancer illustrations, labelsand other data and to continuously leed the sheets as they are printedtr m the machine to a travelin rack movable through Serial No. 530,645.

chine and the drying ack or conveyor as is rendered necessary because ota frequent interruption ot the operation ot the printing orlithographing machine which must be done Without interrupting theoperation ot the traveling rack moving through the drying apparatus.

A further object of the present-invention is to provide a unitary systemof control whereby power may be independently a)- plied to either ot theessential machines ot the organization, that is, to the printing orlithograp'hing machine, or to the drying apparatus.

A further object et the invention to provide for the etlicient controlof the opcration concurrently ot the lithograpliing or printing machineand the drying apparatus and for the driving of the same 'from a comnmon motor and further to provide an independent motor for driving one ofthe elements ot the apparatus While the other mayfor continuouslyprinting or lithographing.

a plate in combination with the drying apparatus and associatedtherewith by a common drive means 'for synchronizing the operation andto eliminate the requirement ot' an attendant Whose services areordinarily utilized in watching the discharge ot the printed plate fromthe apron of the printing' press into the traveling conveyor or rect:which moves through the baking oven.

With these and other objects in view as will be rendered manifest :tromthe :followm ing specification the invention consists ot theconstruction, the combination, and in details and the arrangement of theparts, an embodiment of which invention is illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, wherein;

Figure l is a side elevation. showing diagrammatic-allyA the organizedsystem including a lithographing machine and a halting apparatusincluding a traveling conveyor or rack with a synchronizing mechanismconnecting the same.

Figure 2 is a plan View showing diagrann matically the .system certainot the part-s being broken away to illustrate more clearly the detailsof construction.

ln the illustrated embodiment of the inapparatus diagrammaticallyindicated as lOl) i es

Llo

including printing rollers orv cylinders 2--23 arranged upon a bearingconventionally shown at '-land in which is mounted a shatt that providedon its outer end with a )alley wheel G or other suitable means forderiving' power trom any appropriate motor, in this ease the pulleywheel being driven by a belt i' etxending to a pinion pulley wheel S onthe shaft oi" a motor 9, in this case ot the electrical type. Such aform ot' litliogrraphing or printing machine is well known and istherefore only diagrannnatically illustrated herein.

rlhe plates or sheets that are to be printed er lithographed aresuccessively introduced into the printing machine and, passing throughthe same, are discharged to the usual apron or conveying system or belt10 from which they are transferred to a suitable torni ot carrierentering a baking oven or chamber 11 all oi which is ot well knownconstruction and here diagrammatically shown.

ll`he conveyor or rack7 to which the plates pa from the apron leelt otthe press, generally comprises a set ot sprocket chains operative oversprocket wheels secured on a shatt extending across one end of thebaking oven 11; these sprocket chains being arrane'ed in parallelrelation and having attached in transverse position at suitable regularintervals receiving racks or trames of any suitable torni ofconstruction and shape and here indicated as U-shaped members 18, vtheends ot which are so secured to the respective sprocket chains 14 thatthose ot the carrier frames 13 passing over the upper parts or" thesprocket wheels 15 incline slightly rearwardly with respect to thedirection ot travel so that the plates P thereon will remain in anupright and stable condition so as to prevent the marring ot the printedor litliog'raphedl surface.

lieretotore there has been co-ordinate relation or eo-artion between atime oi doliver)l oil the printed plates or sheets from the press andthe rate oi movement ot Vthe converor carrying; the printed sheetsthrough the oven and tor' that r "ison the presence oi an attendanthalsI been necessary so as to properly transfer' the printed plates tothe rack trames 13 and to prevent them t'roin overlapping and piling'upon one another on the trames.

'io overcome this necessity one ot the purposes ot the present inventionis to eo'- ordinate and synchronize the motion or time ot operation otthe press and the rack .i rier so as to obviate the necessity ot theattendant and to that end a driving connection is introduced between thepress and the com'eyor or carrier moving inthe oven. One 'torni ot such`transmitting` connection is shown as inclndinpl a `gear wheel 16secured Y on the shalt 12 and which. niay be secured 1,5ca71e atesection sli-att 22 that is universally jointed at 23 to the adjacent endof a short shaft 24 journalled in a box or bearing 25 and on which shaft24- is termed or provided a gear 2G. The gear 26 meshes with acomplementary gea-r or pinion 27 that is provided on o a shaft 28mounted in suitable bearings 29 and 30 and which 4is here shownextending transversely of the a pp'aratus as a whole and as parallel tothe driving shaft 5 of the lithographing machine. and to the shaft 12 ofthe conveyor of the bakingl oven 11. Itlowever7 it is to be understoodthat this airrangeinent ot driving connectionsis but illustrative ot anembodiment ot the invention and is not intended to be limi-tation as tothe arrangement or organization oit the parts.

On shaft 28 is loosely but non-slidably mounted a sprocket wheel 31engaginga sprocket chain 32 extendingto the shat't 5 ot the printingmachine and engaging a sprocket pinion 323 secured thereon so that poweris transmitted trom the shaft 5 through the sprocket connections to` theshatt- 28 it the sprocket wheel 31 be clutched to the shaft 28 as willnow be described.

The sprocket wheel 31 has at one side a projecting` hub portion providedwith a clutch face 35 adjacent to a clutch sleeve S6 thaty is splined onshaft 2S and which may be thrown into and ont of mesh with the clutchvtace at will by the operator as through the manipulation ot a controllever il? having' suitable refr-operation with the sleeve or clutchmember Btl.

From the above. it will be seen that there is provided a drivingconnection between the main shat't 5 oit the print-ing' or lithographingmachine and the end shaft 12 ot the carrier which carries the platesinto the oven 1l and that by means of the clutch S6 the operation ot theshatt 12 through the transmitting sprocket chains 32 and its wheel 31may bel interrupted so that the printing' or lithographing machine canlbe operated without driving' the carrier or rack passing-r into the oven11.

But it is desirable that means be provided tor continuously operating'the rack or conif'eyor which is carryingl plates into the bak- 1 ing' ordrying' oven independently of the .tact whether or not the lithographingor printing' machine may be in operation and to that end a feature otthe present invention resides' in the combination ol'l a supplelil-Llmentary or auxiliary motor or other suitable power applying means thatcan be connected at will to operate the carrier passing into `the oven.

This independent drive is accomplished preferably through theutilization of a driving means connectible at will to the intermediateshaft 28 and a form of such means is shown as .including atransn'iission of mechanism between the shaft 28 and an auxiliarydriver, as for instance a, motor 40, that may have secured on its shafta sprocket pinion 4l engaging a sprocket chain 42 which is extended toand engages a sprocket wheel 43 loosely but nonslidably mounted on theintermediate shaft 2S so that this shaft may be driven by theconnectingl means, for instance sprocket chain 32 from, the main shaft5, or it may be driven from the motor 40 if the sprocket wheel bc lockedto the shaft 28 which may be done by throwing the clutch 36 intointerlock with the adjacent clutch face 44 formed on the adjacent end ofthe wheel 43.

From this it will be seen that the invention ln'ovides a single clutchmember having the dual function of selectively connecting` theintern'iediate shaft 28 either to the main shaft to be driven by thesame or to the transmission means of the motor 40 in which latter casethe plate rack er conveyor may be continuously operated through the ovenll irrespective of whether the press is in operation or not.

ln the operation of the present system the pressman or other person incharge of the apparatus when starting;l the press watches the dischargeof the plates P therefrom and the passage of the same onto theintermediate apron or belt so that at the moment that a plate passesfrom the intermediate apron to one of the frames 13 of the rackconveyor. the main clutch 3G can be thrown into mesh with the clutchface of the sproclzet wheel ill at the instant that a space ispresented, at the discharge cud ot the apron means l0, between a pair ofthe frames 13 with the result that the plates will be properlyintroduced into the interveningl space and thereafter the successivedischarge of the plates from the press and their discharge by the apronconveyors 10 will be synchronized to feed the plates snccessively intothe intervening;` spaces between the successive frames 13 forming' theoven conveyor.

It is obvious that since the press and oven carrier are now synchronizedby the connecting" drive means the speed of the press may be increasedand coincident with this the speed of movement of the oven carrier willbe increased in proper time and synchronously because of the positivedrive connections between the two machines, that is, the press and thedryingl apparatus.

the

lt is therefore possible for the pressman or operator to interrupt theoperation of the lithographing or printing,r machine at any timethrowing in the conn ction between the auxiliary drivingmeans or motorand the intermediate shaft 28 sothat the operation of the platecariyingci,l rack may be continued independently of the drive of thepress.

A further advantage of the present organization is that the co-relatedpressand the oven mechanism may be concurrently driven by power derivedfrom a single source as for instance the main motor 9 ascontra-distinguished from the now common system `of drivingl the pressand the oven shaft conveyor by independent means operativewithout.co-ordination or synchronism.

It is understood of course that the present disclosure is but oneembodiment of the apparatus parts of which may be reconstructed andvaried in organization and arrangement of the parts and that may beadapted te different types of machines and bakingl `ovens or systems asexpediency may require,

and further it is understood that any suitable. form of connecting`means as between the press drive and the conveyor drive may be designedand organized within the spirit of the invention and scope of theappended claims.

lVhat is claimed is:

l. A system for continuously.printing and drying bodies, comprising, incombination, a printing` machine; a drying apparatus including, atraveling conveyor to receive the bodies successively from the machine,means for synchronizingthe action of the machine and the conveyor andmeans for interrnptingl the operation of the synchronizingg` means sothat the machine and the conveyor may be independently driven orstopped.

' 2. A combined printing or lithographing machine and drying apparatusincluding a conveyor with synchronizing drive means connecting thesan'ie to secure timed discha rge of printed bodies from the one to theother and for eliminating interference of transferred, printed bodies,separate drive means for the machine and the conveyor, and selectivemeans for connecting one of the drive means to the synchronizing means.

3. A combined printing or lithographing machine and drying,- apparatusincluding a conveyor with synchronizing` drive means connecting` thesame to secure timed discharge of printed bodies from the one to theother and for eliminating interference of transferred, printed bodies,separate drive means for the machine and the conveyor, and selectivemeans for connecting one of the driving means to the synchronizingvmeans and disconnecting' the separate drive means for the machine.

b f sto J )ine its motor f) and then i lill AA combined printing` orlithographing machine rand dr-ying apparatus including a conveyor withsynchronizing drive means ycoinrecting the same to secure timeddischarge ot printed bodies treni the one to the other and foreliminating vinterference ot' transferred, printed bodies, vvseparatedrive means for lthe machine and the -conveyor, and selective means forvconnecting one rot Vthe driving means to the synchronizing meansand-disconnecting the 4other-so that leach drivemeans may heoperatedirrespeciive y ot the l other.

5. A combined `:printing or lithographing machine and a dryingapparatus, vincluding :a 4coni-*eyor to freceive the printed bodiesI'iiron'ithe latter .anditale them through :the :apparatus-g a .driveshai't for the :machine g 'a 4shaft for Lthe conveyor, -an intermediateshaft; driving :mechanism hetweenthe said driveshafft'andtheintermediate shaft; an a uxilia'ry driver for theintermediate shatt g l'means :for selectively connectinganddisconne'cting said mechanism and lsaid intermediate shaft so thatthe former can operate independently, land for connecting and dis-L'conn'ecting thea-'auxiliary driVertothe intermediate shaft alternatelylto the drive shaft; Iand means -connecting theintermedi- :fate shatttothe drive shaft ofthe conveyor to drive the latter with or independentlyof the drive of the printing machine.

(3. A combinedprinting orllithographing inachine,and.a drying machine;two independent :sources of power, `means for providingsynchronousoperation of both `ma- -chines r'from-onesourceof power, and means fordri-vingl said drying machine from said other source of powerindependent o1u said last mentioned means.

fr'. A combined printing oivlithographing machine, and a drying machine;two independent sources o't power, synchronizing dri-ving mechanismvconnecting ithe ytwo ma-y `conveyor, and means for ydisrupting saidsynchronizing mechanism-*andato connect-the driver .tor :theconveycr,-or conversely for disconnecting Lthe driver tor vthe conveyorand operatively connecting said synchroniz- .ing -mechanism 9. Acombined sprinting or lithographing machine and drying` apparatus;driving means for said machine, drive i gear, connect-- ed'to saiddrying apparatus, clutch means for positively connecting said drivingmeans avith said drive gear, and indepeinlently operable idrivin'g meanslfor said vdrying :apparatus.

In testimony whereof, I 'have y"hereunto 'set my'yhand.

.JULES n. Nv.

